Augmented reality for food quality assessment: Bridging the physical and digital worlds

Augmented Reality (AR) is revolutionizing technology that has found applications in food quality and safety assessment as related to addressing challenges in traditional methods that often lack real-time precision, impacting food. This review explores AR's components, applications, and impacts on real-time food quality inspection, sensory evaluation, and traceability. AR empowers food industry stakeholders like consumers and inspectors by enhancing inspections, evaluations, and transparency. It bridges the physical and digital realms, redefining food inspection, and re-establishing consumer trust by providing real-time inspection, quality control, and transparency solutions. This paper dissects AR's core components, such as smart glasses and smartphones, exploring applications that offer precision and transparency in food assessment. AR enables inspectors to identify defects, contamination, and quality issues with unparalleled precision. Sensory evaluation is enhanced, ensuring standardized assessments based on attributes like color, texture, and flavor. Traceability and transparency solutions empower consumers with access to origin and quality information. AR extends to smart glasses and devices, streamlining inspections and enhancing quality assurance workflows. Successful case studies validate AR's practicality across food industry sectors. Ethical, regulatory, and innovative considerations are vital in this transformative process. Therefore, AR revolutionizes food quality assessment, enhancing safety, quality, and transparency. Through improved ethical and regulatory considerations, innovation, and collaboration delivered by AR, the food industry elevates its standards. This not only safeguards global consumer health but also elevates their satisfaction and trust.